The people who fear rainbows

On June 12, 2016, a man entered the Pulse nightclub on Orange Ave. here in Orlando, and killed 49 people, while injuring 53 more before he was killed by police. I would imagine that this horrified most Americans, but it was extra real and frightening if you lived here. It was the first time I ever scoured Facebook for the "marked safe" posts from friends. It was the worst mass-shooting in American history until the Vegas shooting the next year.

The community came together in extraordinary numbers in the days after. A makeshift memorial popped up in front of the Dr. Phillips Center, and the first of several vigils was held there. An estimated 50,000 people showed up for another around Lake Eola, where the bandshell was eventually painted rainbow colors. The massacre was extra hard on the LGBTQ and Latino communities, as one would expect. The Tony Awards had a very somber tone, as it felt strange to celebrate art (Hamilton, no less) after a tragedy of that scale. I imagine that most of the country moved on in the coming weeks, but locally, I'm not sure if the edges will ever be dulled. Anecdotally, it seems like everyone here was not more than a degree or two away from a victim.

Over the years, there has been a lot of talk about a permanent memorial, a foundation that has since disbanded and debates among community leaders and government about what to build. The club and its distinctive sign are still there, and there's a continuous cycle of notes, flowers and such left there. There's also a crosswalk painted with rainbow colors. Somehow, this has become a controversial issue.

Last week, the Florida DOT came in the middle of the night and painted over the rainbow. This was apparently by order of the governor, who said that roads couldn't be "commandeered for political purposes." Unsurprisingly, people came out and chalk painted over the crosswalk. Eventually some people painted over it, and FDOT painted over it again.

One could argue that if the law prohibits the markings, then that's the law. It wouldn't be the first stupid thing that the state spent time and money on. But when Desantis insists that it's a "political purpose," what does that mean? Is remembering 49 people who were gunned down political? If it is, then virtually every memorial everywhere is political. Is spreading messages of love and kindness political? Only if you're a sociopathic asshole, I suppose.

In these stupid culture wars that are designed to demean and threaten people, not to mention distract you from actual problems, there's a subculture of people who appear to fear rainbows. You know, the things that every kid first draws with their first box of crayons. They live in a bizarre world of their own, where they truly believe that queer people somehow pose a threat to them, and even more ridiculously, are trying to recruit people into their "lifestyle" (with rainbows!). There are a lot of levels of willful stupidity to unpack there, but to paraphrase Yoda, fear, anger and hate lead to suffering, and it ain't the white heterofolk who are suffering.

There's a wider trend where some folks are anxious to classify people and cast them out for being different. It's gotta stop.

(image from Orange County Government)